According to a report on ESPN New York, Sandy Alderson continued to say Monday that the direction the Mets take at the trade deadline will be dictated by how the team performs heading into the All-Star break.

“Look, let’s see where we are at the end of this week,” Alderson told reporters. “We’re always willing to listen. We may be thinking in terms of the second half of this season. We may be thinking more in terms of next season. We’ve made a lot of deals in recent years where we’ve gotten prospects who are a good ways away. I don’t think we’re thinking that way these days, although sometimes that’s the value in a return. So I’d just hate to speculate on it.”

Among players who could be moved, the names Bartolo Colon, Daniel Murphy and Bobby Abreu have been mentioned the most.

July 4

Sandy Alderson spoke to reporters for about 20 minutes before tonight’s game against the Texas Rangers at Citi Field.

Alderson is confident everything is moving in the right direction. “I think our team is on the right track and I don’t think we’re that far away.”

He backtracked on his previous 90 wins statements made a few times in April and then repeated again in May. “It was never a goal and only an attempt to change the team’s mindset and get them to think in terms of specificity.”

On whether the Mets can make the playoff this year: “It depends on what happens over the next couple of weeks.”

Regarding the team’s offense or lack of it, the Mets GM acknowledged it’s not the hitting coach and that the problem lies with the hitters.

“The conclusion I would draw at this stage, consistent with what I suggested at the time we made the change, is sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t,” Alderson said regarding replacing Dave Hudgens with Lamar Johnson at hitting coach.

“It doesn’t mean there won’t be some change in the future that one can measure. But, at this point, we haven’t seen an uptick. I don’t think that has anything to do with L.J. It probably has more to do with the players that we have.”

He said the lineup needs to be lengthened and pointed out Wilmer Flores and Matt Reynolds as two players who could help in the future.

Regarding the upcoming trade deadline, Alderson could very well stand pat.

According to a summary of Alderson’s comments by Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Alderson said trade conversations so far have been limited, but could pick up the week before the All-Star break.

That said, Alderson did seem to intimate that no activity is the most likely scenario.

“We like the team as it’s developing,” the GM said. “That, in and of itself, would make us reluctant to move players at the deadline. Now, we’re practical as well. We’ve made deals at the deadline. And there’s no reason we’d hesitate to do that if we felt it was the right thing. But I think our team is on the right track. I don’t think we’re that far away.”

He also said that unlike his past trades, this time it is his preference to get back major league talent, or talent on the verge of breaking into the majors, in any trade.

He also maintains the same posture on trading starting pitching and despite the organization’s surplus, he believes trading any of it is not prudent.

“We have a number both here and at the minor-league level that we like. But it’s easy to run through that number in a hurry with injuries and poor performance,” Alderson said.

I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction and interact with other passionate Met fans like you. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.

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